Giants feel they can play even better than they did on Sunday

By GEORGE O’GORMAN, gogorman@trentonian

Monday, December 10, 2012

EAST RUTHERFORD — Antrel Rolle ignited the flames the morning after the loss to the Redskins, and three days later Jason Pierre-Paul fanned the flames into an inferno — claiming his defensive mates were playing too softly.

Sunday, with former Giants greats watching from the sideline on Alumni Day, Stevie Brown orchestrated a dominating defensive performance Tom Coughlin hopes can carry the NFC East leaders through their three remaining regular-season games and into the playoffs as division champs.

While rookie David Wilson’s three touchdowns and NFL record 327 all-purpose yards was the biggest story in the 52-27 rout of the Saints, Brown came up just as huge on defense with two interceptions he ran back for 91 yards.

For the defense it was an indicator of what it can accomplish when it’s pride is at stake after it had played poorly in Washington six days earlier and had been decimated in two prior games in New Orleans, giving up 49 and 48 points, and 577 yards of total offense last season.

Yesterday, after watching tape of the Giants’ second straight home win but only the second win in the last five gamdes, defensive tackle Chris Canty said his unit can still play better.

“We did some good things, but I think there’s room for improvement,” he said. “We had some hits on him (Saints QB Drew Brees), Osi got a sack there at the end, but there’s definitely room. It’s definitely been tough because we haven’t been stopping the run, so we have to make that our primary focus.”

How far away is Big Blue from being a legitimate Super Bowl contender as it became last season over its final three games?

“I hope it’s coming sooner than later,” Canty said. “I think our team is starting to make the effort to play together in all three phases, coming together and understanding how we’re tied together and working to accomplish our goals.”

A plus for the defense Canty claimed “was being able to play good situational football.

“In the red zone we were able to force the Saints into kicking field goals rather than scoring touchdowns and that’s by being able to play situational football. That’s being able to get a stop when you need to and keep them from getting seven points,” continued Canty. “When you couple that with turnovers and great special teams play that’s indicative of a good defensive performance.”

What Coughlin saw was also very encouraging.

“We gave up some run yardage and we certainly gave up the big ball down the middle of the field, but we did things we had to do basically when we had to,” added Coughlin. “We were 4-for-5 with touchdowns in the green zone (inside the 20) and 3-for-3 in the tight green. Our defense held them to 2-for-4. They were 50 percent in the red zone and had been at 70 percent.”

With three games to go — at Atlanta, at Baltimore and home with the Eagles — the Giants control their own destiny. But Coughlin won’t admit the pressure is on Dallas and Washington to catch them.

“You don’t look over your shoulder at the scoreboard because you have to take care of your own business,” he said. “We determine our own fate. Destiny is a matter of choice for us and we do know the odds. We do know what’s at stake.”

But can the G-Men maintain the pit bulldog mentality Rolle said they needed?

“In some aspects we definitely played tougher, but still have things to clean up” said Brown. “Now we need to come out and make sure we’re always physical and always trying to go get the ball and create turnovers.”

Now the question is why is the Giants defense at its best only when its backs are against the wall?

“I don’t know why that is,” Rolle admitted. “For some reason we like to make it hard on ourselves. But we’ve also been the kind of team that can handle pressure. We do extremely well under those circumstances.

“However the shoe fits, wear it. We’ve made our own path, and made it kind of hard on ourselves, but we’re a fighting team and will fight until the end when we’re the last team standing.”

But did Rolle see any “dogs” in the Giants’ defensive effort.

“I saw a lot of dogs, but no pit bulls. We’re saving that for the long haul,” said Rolle. “Despite that team’s record (Saints were 5-7) we knew how bad they whooped us in the past. It was something we were looking forward to.

“The turnovers we got were huge and more importantly with the turnovers the offense was able to get points out of them which makes it that much better. When we attacked the ball we were much more physical than we have been,” noted Rolle. “Stevie has stepped up and become a playmaker in the back end, and you know we appreciate that.”

* * * * * The Giants didn’t come away injury free.

Ahmad Bradshaw was held out most of the second half with a knee injury after gaining 33 yards on six runs, allowing his replacement Wilson to get 97 of his eventual 100 yards on 17 carries.

“He’s being examined even as we speak,” Coughlin said when asked of Bradshaw’s status. “We’ll know more about that when these medical examinations are completed.

“Anytime you are talking about a knee and you are going through a series of tests you’re better off to wait and see what the results are.”

Coughlin said wideout Hakeem Nicks was sore after his 4-for-67 day.

“He’s going to continue in the same capacity he’s been in. I wish he would have an opportunity to play after no longer having any issues, but that’s not going to be the case this year. He’s continuously monitored throughout the season on a weekly basis. So there’s nothing unusual about that and hopefully… I thought he had some plays in the game that showed real quickness, similar to what we’re used to.”